Mainstream Magazine Cover Analysis - EMPIRE

Movie Campaign Products - [with Critical Audience Theory]

The Reception theory has a strong relation to my teaser trailer as the storyline is not entirely given away and as in most cases the storyline is not present at all and instead only vague clues are presented to the audience. Therefore the meaning of the text is not inherent in itself in first viewing and alike this theory a teaser will be dependent on the audience to elicit some meaning or at least an independent meaning directed by the clues I give them. However, the clues I give through the trailer can be interpreted differently depending on the audience own individual experiences which on a smaller scale could mean experiences in viewing different films of the same genre of with my teaser familiar interests such as reality TV or the fame culture in today's society.

The Obstinate theory can also be considered in the case of my teaser trailer and poster. With a mystery around the entire storyline as well as the outcome/ending and progression of the film this will provoke intrigue within the audience. The need to satisfy this intrigue will be intensified when they begin to elicit their own meaning through the clues that they see. They will seek certain parts of the trailer as well as images from the movie poster to speculate about the film and create their own idea as to how the film will begin/play out and end.

The Two-step flow theory is something movie campaigns as well as magazine sales are extremely dependnet on. When viewing trailers or magazine covers the spread of these products are dependent on audience with higher media literacy [& opinion leaders] to diffuse the content to others. This is what makes Youtube views of trailers, Google search stats for the movie's title as well as cinema ticket/magazine sales so important when determining the success of a movie campaign.

Copyright

In order to deal with any issues I might have with using sound and music in my teaser trailer I wanted to ask myself a series of questions to allow me to have a greater understanding of copyright and how it might effect me.

What is a Copyright?
A set of exclusive rights granted by the law to the author or creator of an original piece of work.

What do these rights mean?
Because these rights are solely the authors or creators it means that in order to use their work others need either permission to or will be required to pay to acquire these rights themselves.

In summary, it means that people can not use an original author's work to make either profit or other gain without the author being fairly credited themselves.

What can be copyrighted? Literacy, dramatical, music, artwork, sound recordings, broadcasts, films and typographical arrangements such as fonts or company logos.

How do you obtain copyright?
Copyright is an automatic right whenever an individual or company creates a work. Work should be regarded as original, and show labour, skill and judgement. However an idea for a book would not be protected but the the content of a book that has actually been written would be.  Basically someone else is still entitled to write their own book based on the same idea - for example a wizard in a wizarding school provided they do not directly copy or adapt yours to do so.

So there has to be an expressive piece of work for copyright laws to take place, simply just an idea does not suffice.

How long does it last?
For literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works: 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the last remaining author of the work dies.

If the author is unknown, copyright will last for 70 years from end of the calendar year in which the work was created.If it is made available to the public during that time, (by publication, authorised performance, broadcast, exhibition, etc.), then the duration will be 70 years from the end of the year that the work was first made available.

UPDATE [25/02/12]: As I have now decided I wish to include 30 seconds of the song Darkest Star by Depeche Mode I need to look into how I go about obtaining this material without breaking copyright laws...

via: http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p27_work_of_others

I have discovered that I must contact the publishers of the material or in this case the producers and/or musicians. When seeking permission I must specify in writing...

The material you wish use (include the title of publication, author name etc.).

• The exact content to be duplicated (i.e. page numbers, section names, etc.).
• The number of copies you wish to make.
• How the copies will be used (i.e. for an event, course work, etc.).
• Who the copies will be distributed to (i.e. students , parents, general public).

Therefore I have emailed in hope that they will reply giving me an answer... this is the email...

Unfortunately I have recieved no reply however when researching further into copyright I have discovered that copyright concerning students is slightly different...

via: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/legal/copyright/students_guide/

I have discovered that if I am studying film or sound-tracks I can copy material if it is in the course of my studies which in this case it is.

''Sound and video recordings

If you are studying the making of film or film sound-tracks, then you can copy material available on published sound and video recordings to make your own film or film sound-track, provided that this is in the course of your studies. Note, this copying may only be done by a tutor or a student involved in such a course.''

CONCLUSION: 
My plan is to create my own sound effects for my teaser and concerning the music I want to use I will use below 30 seconds of it in order to respect copyright laws to the best of my ability. This means I have stuck to student copyright laws that I have researched as well as the legalities concerning contacting the publishers of any material I wish to use.

Movie Poster Mock-Up & Audience Feedback

These are rough mock-ups of some of the poster ideas that I have had for my movie. Font's and pictures are not exact, my aim was just to materialise some of my ideas so that I could make a better judgement. There are some features I have featured in both and hope to feature in my final poster:

• The details of the release are not entirely precise which was my intention as a lot of people viewing this poster will not have heard of the film before so the main aim of it is to raise awareness of crucial details such as the title.
• I have chosen to have the title of my film 'watchREALITYwatch' at a slanted angle in the centre of the poster to reinforce this as a main feature.
• I have featured film reels, that at the moment has blank squares within it, however, what will feature here is shots from the film, e.g the woman being watched in her day to day life, which to an audience unaware of the film's plot will give slight clues from the angle of the photos watching the woman in a big brother style. 

My first idea was a poster which used a lot of black to create a very dark mood. As the colour black usually connotates negative feelings and is often associated with mystery, fear, death etc. it is a symbol that is extremely suited to the type of film I am trying to advertise. Using shots of the keyboard and the mouse are a clue to the type of film which, I have already discussed, could be considered a technology thriller. Just above the film reels will be a shot of the woman looking upwards (as if she is looking at a camera) looking scared and shocked; because she is surrounded by a lot of black and shots of herself being watched she is immediately put in a vulnerable position enforced by the scared expression on her face. This develops the main character and again provides clues to the film's storyline. 

In my second idea I have used 2 film strips which again go diagonally in opposite directions across the poster. I have place main details, such as the title and the tagline, underneath these strips as they act as leading lines in my poster therefore drawing the eye in the same direction as the details ensures they are acknowledged by my audience. Having these details slanted also encourages the viewer to physically interact with my poster (i.e tilting their head) which is an aim I've continued to use with my tagline. The tagline itself is very provocative with a mode of address that is very sinister and authoritative. It almost imitates the voice of an antagonist present in the film asking the viewer a direct question which places them within the film and provides clues to the storyline. Another repeated feature is the photo of my protagonist in the centre of the poster, however this time I have shown an overly happy expression which would juxtapose the negative shots in the film strips as well as the tagline. Having the film reels cover her eyes does a similar thing to my first idea in making her vulnerable because she is literally blind through the ironic sense of her being watched all the time and the title commanding the audience to watchReality. 

Feedback

For technical feedback as well as hearing the opinions of the over 18 females and males that the movie would be aimed at I showed my mock ups to my class. Unfortunately not all of my feedback has been recorded due to technical difficulties but what I learnt from my feedback was that the clearer poster [my first mock up with the strips over the females face] had more intriguing ideas that encouraged more thinking and interaction from its audience creating more of an active audience. My teacher was also their to provide technical feedback and as she said my second mock up was more explicit about it's content it got me thinking into what the aim of my poster was. As I have chosen to create a poster that would be released quite earlier in the campaign for my movie and therefore one that is more intriguing and as other people in the class also said to me 'the juxtaposition I have used as well as the brighter colours with the more sinister photos is much more intriguing also'. In conclusion I have decided to go onto create my second poster as this is the one that has got the most positive feedback and seems to be the one best suited to my target audience.

Mindmap of ideas for Film Poster

Exhibition for Movie Poster

I have researched into exhibition for my movie poster and below are some photo examples I have taken on my phone as well as found online:

The back of a magazine: Taking this exhibition route would completely depend on the type of magazine. As with my magazine cover I have borrowed the interests in fashion and beauty to capture the attention of my audience. Considering the type of magazine I wanted my film to feature on would also be the case if I were to place my movie poster in a magazine. I would have to look at magazines with a readership that is predominantly female but that also provide the advert space for upcoming movies - this could include the type of magazine featured in the photo which happened to be a TV Guide or other magazines such as lifestyle or celebrity/gossip magazines.

A bus shelter: This particular form of outdoor advertising is usually seen in urban areas, especially within cities.  The perks of using this as a form of exhibition would be the 24 hour illumination of the poster ensuring that my advertisement is seen all day and night to whomever is walking past which as well as public transport users will be those just walking down the street.

On a bus: A huge difference with placing a movie poster on the side of a bus is the dramatic change to the dimensions - it becomes a narrow rectangular landscape poster or motif. The perks of this advertising is the fact it can travel long distances making it visible for a wide variety of people however the travelling aspect can bring about disadvantages in the fact transit adverts only draw a few seconds of the readers time.

My poster exhibition: I have chosen to create a movie poster that is suitable for outdoor advertising such as bus shelters as it works on the advertising principle of ''frequency'' and a number of people are likely to see the advertisement multiple times on a regular basis - this ingrains the message which is more likely to influence the idea of a two-step-flow of communication; opinion leaders who see my advertisement are likely to bring up the film in conversation. The poster I use for a bus shelter will also be suitable for the back of a magazine as well as in a cinema creating a cohesive advertisement campaign if my target audience see these different means of exhibition. Using the same posters in different means of exhibition creates repeated exposure for my target audience increasing the chances that the release of the film is ingrained in the audiences mind.

UPDATE: I have just become aware of another route of exhibition that would be perfect for my film. As an independent film extensive advertising in the form of billboards and magazines (except independent film magazines) could be considered out of reach. As well as the routes I have discussed above another more affordable idea I had was...

Public Restrooms: Another idea which I think seems well suited to my campaign is in public restrooms, examples of this close to me are toilets in our cinema complex 'Odeon' as well as our shopping centres. In the case of a cinema it would attract audiences of similar films who are using the toilets and in the case of shopping centres for my predominantly female target audience it would work well by drawing in the interests of young females.

Exploring types of Movie Posters

Teaser Poster:
A teaser poster is one that is often released long before production of the movie or in some cases during. They will usually contain a release date from the film ranging from specific dates to more vague release details such as the year. Teaser poster's aim is to insite awareness around the flm therefore in some cases they feature characters from the films as can be seen in the SAW V poster to the left. Nowhere on the poster is the title for the film, instead the roman numeral informs the audience of which film in the series it is which paired with the mask of the film's well known killer is enough to inform the audience of the film. The early exhibtion advocates simplistic design but this basid design is enough to generate hype without revealing too much about the movie's plot in order to allow the audience to explore there own ideas.

However, subtle clues are often used in teaser posters to entice an audience and wet their appetite as to what the film might ensue. This can be seen in the left poster for THE CRAZIES where a shot of a sign originally with the text 'friendliest place on earth' is juxtaposed with the blood written 'HELP US' and the bullet holes in the sign all connotaing danger and death emphasised through the contrast of what looks like a quaint village in the background and the dark sky again creating negative feelings of danger. In the poster for THE DARK KNIGHT the technique of using a tagline (in this case 'why so serious?') is very effective as Batman films have cultivated an audience that would instantly be familiar with the term as well as the character 'the joker' that is being portrayed in the painted pictures on the brick wall.

  

Character Posters: These are posters like those used to promote Harry Potter 7 Part 1 that can be seen above. They are often used for a film that's importance/storyline is based on several characters, all of which have the potential to create awareness and hype within an audience during an advertisement campaign for a film. This is why they were successfully used for Harry Potter as the series of films have characters that have all obtained a substantial amount of popularity and value within the storyline. Another prominent feature of character posters is again the use of taglines such as 'Nowhere is safe' and 'The end begins'  both hinting at the dramamtic storyline of the film. The dark ambience of all 3 pictures reinforce this with connotations of danger with the red splatters and dishevelled looking characters hinting at the action that will be shown in the film.